


you should know i'll be there for you

by illbeyourreasonwhy



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Amber is a disaster, Andi is slightly less of a disaster, F/F, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Siblings, TJ is a good brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28781676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illbeyourreasonwhy/pseuds/illbeyourreasonwhy
Summary: "I kissed Andi.""Okay, and what happened after that?"Amber buried her face in her hands. "I ran away?"*Or, Amber is pining, Andi is confused, and TJ really doesn't see how he keeps getting involved in sorting out their relationship problems.
Relationships: Amber & T. J. Kippen, Amber/Andi Mack, T. J. Kippen & Andi Mack
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	you should know i'll be there for you

**Author's Note:**

> Who's ready for some Ambi pining from TJ's pov? Honestly I'm not sure where this fic came from, it's definitely not my best work but hey, I hope you'll like it!

“I kissed Andi.”

“You did what now?”

Amber paused in the doorway, the realisation of what she had done hitting her full force. “Oh my gosh. I kissed Andi.”

TJ took in his sister’s distressed appearance, frowned, and put his book down. “Okay, and what happened after that?”

Amber buried her face in her hands. “I ran away.”

TJ paused. “I’m sorry?”

“I ran away,” she repeated. She peaked at TJ through her fingers and he sighed, patting the space on his bed next to him. After a moment, she tiptoed into the room and sat next him. “I’m so stupid,” she whispered, her voice breaking, and he pulled her into a side hug.

She rested her head on his shoulder. “So, what happened exactly?” he asked after a moment, and she sighed.

“You know how Andi and I went to the mall today?”

TJ did know, and it was only because of Amber’s crestfallen expression that he refrained from commenting that it was all Amber had been talking about for the past two days.

“Well, it was great, and we were having a good time, and then we stopped at the food court to get ice cream,” Amber said, “and then she said I had some on my face and wiped it away, and then, I don’t know, I just kissed her.”

TJ blinked. “Woah.”

Amber groaned. “I don’t know what I was thinking. She was just… there, standing so close, and she looked so pretty, and I just lost it for a second and the next thing I knew…”

“You were running away?”

Amber moved forcefully out of his embrace, and TJ raised his hands placatingly, meaning to apologise. The look on his sister’s face stopped him.

“Hey,” he said softly, reaching for her hand, “it’s going to be okay.”

She shook her head, unshed tears brimming in her eyes.

“TJ, you should have seen the way she was looking at me. It was like… like I had done the worst thing imaginable. Like I had taken her trust and just stomped all over it.” She let out a pitiful noise. “I ruined everything.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” TJ said immediately. “Andi is cool. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, I know she won’t just stop being your friend. It’s going to be alright.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You don’t _not_ know that,” he nudged her, and she let out a watery huff. “Just talk to her.”

She swallowed.

“Right now, I just want to curl up in bed and watch Queer Eye,” she murmured dejectedly.

“We can do that.”

She still looked shaken as he pulled out his computer and they settled against his headboard, but she rested her head against his shoulder and mumbled a thanks as the show started.

“Hi, TJ.”

TJ paused in his tracks and stared for a second, unsure on what the procedure for this situation was.

“Hey, Andi,” he eventually said cautiously.

It had been two days since Amber had come into his room after kissing her long-time crush, and while they hadn’t spoken of it since, he knew she hadn’t worked things out with Andi. Her sour mood was enough of an indicator.

Which was why he was a little nervous about being ambushed by Andi on the park’s basketball court. Being alone with her kind of felt like a betrayal of some kind towards his sister.

Andi didn’t look too sure of herself either. She shuffled on her feet and avoided TJ’s gaze, at search for words as she played with the strap of her bag. After a few seconds of this, she seemed to come to a decision, setting her bag on the ground.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked, gesturing to the basketball in TJ’s hands.

TJ gave her a sceptical look. “Do you even know how to play?”

“Well, if we play one on one you’ll wreck me, but I can shoot a few baskets.”

TJ hesitated. Hanging out with Andi two days after she had been the cause of Amber’s tears didn’t sit too well with him, and he was tempted to decline. On the other hand, Andi was his friend, and he kind of wanted to see why she had sought him out.

He tossed the ball to her. She caught it, and for the next few minutes they only shot hoops in silence.

“I haven’t seen Amber at the Spoon,” Andi said nonchalantly as she threw the ball and it bounced back against the board.

 _Ah, there it is,_ TJ thought.

“She called in sick. She hasn’t been feeling well.”

Andi’s face twisted guiltily. “Is she okay?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Why don’t you ask her?”

For half a second she looked distressed, but the next moment she kept a straight face as she passed him the ball. He threw it through the hoop effortlessly.

“I _tried_ ,” she assured him. “She hasn’t been answering my texts.”

Oh. That was news. TJ made sure to stay focused on the ball as he shot for the basket, trying to buy himself some time.

“Her phone died,” he lied. “She probably hasn’t recharged it, what with being sick and all.”

Andi glanced over, clearly not buying it. “My messages are getting delivered. She’s just not reading them.”

And, yeah, it hadn’t been a good lie to begin with. He hadn’t really expected her to believe it. But he wasn’t ready for the disappointment she failed to hide from him. He couldn’t tell if it was because she knew he hadn’t told her the truth, or if it was a bigger, more Amber-related situation.

She caught the ball and held it in her hands for a few seconds, looking straight at TJ. For a moment they just held each other’s gazes, until Andi spoke.

“She kissed me.”

It came out quiet, her face unreadable. He tried to catch her gaze, but she was looking away now, staring at the ground.

“I heard.” He moved closer to her, taking the ball from her hands. “How do you feel about that?”

“Like I lost one of my best friends,” she answered. She looked up, suddenly looking so small and sad that TJ almost took her in his arms. “She won’t _talk_ to me. I keep calling and texting and she won’t pick up and I’m this close to going to your house but I don’t want to come off as stalkerish and I –”

She paused to take a breath, and TJ watched silently as she struggled to get her emotions under control.

“Be honest with me, TJ,” she said, her voice stronger. “Is it my fault that she’s skipping work?”

TJ hesitated. “She’s not trying to avoid you,” he eventually settled with. “I mean, she is, but not for the reasons you think. She’s just…” He sighed. Andi waited, her lower lip wobbling. “She feels like she ruined everything. I think she feels that if she can keep pushing back seeing you and answering you, then she’s also pushing back you being done with her.” He paused. “I think. I’m just guessing in the dark, to be honest. I didn’t know she was ghosting you. I didn’t even know you were trying to reach her.”

“Of course I’m trying to reach her,” Andi snapped, sounding mildly annoyed, “she just left and I haven’t heard from her in two days. I’m worried.” She rubbed her forehead, suddenly looking tired, before snapping her head back up. “Wait, did you say I was going to be done with her? Why on earth would she think that?”

“I don’t know,” TJ muttered, looking away and really feeling like he shouldn’t be having this conversation. “You’re going to reject her, so that probably is going to affect your relationship at least a little bit.”

Andi raised an eyebrow. “Who said I was going to reject her?”

TJ froze. “You’re not?”

She crossed her arms. “Well, I guess we’ll never find out if she isn’t planning on ever speaking to me again.”

“I see.” He twirled the ball between his hands. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Thanks.”

She offered him a small smile before turning to leave.

“Hey, Andi?” he called her back.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t break her heart.”

“Can I come in?”

“Well, you’re already in, so…”

TJ grinned and sprawled himself over Amber’s bed, ignoring her shrieks when his feet almost hit her from where she was curled up against the headboard.

“Move _over_! I need to –”

“I saw Andi today.”

Amber paused in the middle of shoving him, her arm cartoonishly held in midair. He rolled over into a sitting position.

“How is she?”

“Worried about you. Which you would know if you answered her texts,” he added pointedly.

“I know, I know, I just…” She let her head rest against the headboard. “I’m going to. I just need a minute. To prepare myself for all the heartbreak and other fun stuff.”

“For what it’s worth, I asked her not to break your heart.”

Amber looked torn between hugging him and throwing a rock at his head.

“First of all, I didn’t need you to do that,” she said, her voice sharp. “Thank you. For looking out for me, and everything. But you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know I didn’t have to,” TJ replied, a bit of irritation peaking through his tone despite his best efforts.

Amber opened her mouth, shut it, then closed her eyes and threw her head back in frustration. It hit her headboard with a clang, but she didn’t even wince.

“Well, thanks for doing that, but it’s not like she would ever deliberately hurt me,” she said, her eyes closed. “But we all know I’m going to end up hurt either way. Serves me right for falling for a straight girl.”

TJ pursed his lips, Andi’s words ringing in his ears. _Who said I was going to reject her?_

“How do you know she’s straight?”

“She dated Jonah.”

“Hate to break it to you, but you also dated Jonah.”

She threw a pillow at him.

“Alright, got it, will not mention this dark period of your life again.”

“Shut up.”

He nudged her with his toe, and she yelped and pulled away, glaring at him. He smirked, before his face softened back into an open expression.

“Just talk to her, okay?” he said. “She misses you, so if you really want to keep her in your life, you better at least try to reach her before she gets tired of your ghosting act and decides she’s done with you.”

Amber swallowed but nodded slowly, a wary look clouding over her face. She took her phone from her bedside table, unlocked it, and glanced up at TJ.

“Do you want me to go?” he asked gently.

“Yeah. If you don’t mind. I’d rather be alone while I’m doing this.”

“Okay.” He got up, and fought back against the urge to do something weird like take her in his arms or kiss her forehead. That would be embarrassing for the both of them. Instead he settled for ruffling her hair, grinning when she yelled at him to stop messing up her braids.

“So?”

“We talked.”

“And?”

“And we’re friends again. Or still. I don’t know if we ever stopped.” Amber dipped her bread in her cereal bowl, and TJ was too engrossed in her story to comment on it. “Point is, we’re good.”

“O… kay?” He waited for her to continue, but that seemed to be it. She had gone back to her disturbing eating habits. “Is that all you’re going to give me?”

Amber raised her head to look at him, looking annoyed. “What do you want me to say, TJ? Do you want a point-by-point rundown of our conversation?”

“I’m just confused as to how you went from crying every time she was mentioned –"

“Shut up, I wasn’t that bad.”

“– to being best friends with her after one conversation.”

Amber glared at him. She looked exhausted, which was understandable considering she had snuck out that night to go meet Andi so that they could talk things out. A feat TJ was only hearing about now, several hours later over breakfast.

“It’s like you said,” she explained. “We both wanted it to work out, so it did. We’re friends again.”

“You said that already.” TJ downed half of his orange juice, still looking at his sister who wouldn’t meet his eyes. “And I’m happy you are, obviously, but is that just… it?”

“What else do you want there to be?”

“I don’t know, did you talk about the kiss? Is it going to be awkward now that she knows you like her?”

Amber crossed her arms, looking a little worried. “I guess we’ll find out.”

“And are you okay with this?” Amber gave him a confused look, so he went on. “Are you okay with being only friends after what happened, knowing that she knows you like her?”

Amber set her glass down sharply. “Are you _trying_ to make me nervous?”

“No, no, of course not,” TJ said, starting to wonder if he should shut up. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Very sweet sentiment,” Amber answered. “But I’m fine. I’m more than fine. Andi doesn’t hate me, we’re back to being friends, and honestly, that’s enough for me.”

TJ bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything. Amber was making it very hard to stay concerned for her.

“Okay, Amber. Whatever you say.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Hello to you too, Andi.”

“I’m serious.” Andi bit her lip, looking distressed, and TJ paused.

It had been about a month since the whole kiss disaster, and things had mostly gone back to normal. Which was why it was surprising for him to have Andi ambush him at his locker approximatively five seconds after he had walked into the school.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head. TJ glanced around quickly, before turning back to Andi.

“Art room?”

She nodded; he hooked their arms together and pulled her around the corner to a small classroom. Ever since Andi’s art teacher had heard she would be attending SAVA in high school, she had given her permission to use the art room whenever she wanted outside of classes in order to practise for the following year. Before long, it had become the gang’s hangout place when they didn’t feel like facing the rest of the world.

“What’s going on?” TJ asked, setting his bag down and hopping onto a table to sit down.

Andi didn’t answer right away. She walked around, picked up a paintbrush and started to twirl it around her fingers the way she did when she needed to calm her nerves before a big project. TJ almost missed it when she said, “I like Amber.”

“Cool, so you – wait, what?”

Andi swallowed. “I like her. The way I think she likes me.”

“The way you _think_ she – never mind. What – how did you realise that?”

She fidgeted with the brush in her hands for another few seconds, before going over to the desk across from his and sitting on top of it. “I don’t know,” she said. “Gradually. It’s like – it’s like it’s always been there, but I didn’t realise it until she kissed me.”

That made sense. TJ nodded, letting her continue.

“And since then… I don’t know. At first I thought I was imagining things, or I guess I was telling myself I was imagining things. But it’s been getting harder and harder to ignore it and – TJ, I _really_ like her.”

TJ forced himself to keep a straight face and not break into a smile. It didn’t seem to be the reaction Andi was waiting on. But still, he was ecstatic for Amber.

“Okay, so what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Have you thought about asking her out?”

Andi stared at a poster behind him. “Yes, of course. But I’m kind of scared.”

TJ frowned. “Of what?”

Andi looked at him as if he were an idiot. “That she will say no. Isn’t that what everyone is afraid of?”

“You’re afraid Amber will turn you down,” TJ repeated slowly. “Amber, who kissed you not even a month ago.”

“That’s the thing,” she insisted. “I turned _her_ down. What if she’s mad at me?”

“Andi, slow down.” TJ waited until she met his eyes to continue. “You went to see a movie together yesterday. You really think she’s angry at you?”

“Well, maybe not, but…” She bit her lip. “I know I must have hurt her. I didn’t mean to, but I’m sure I did. So maybe she won’t want to go down that road again.” She paused, looking stricken. “Maybe she’s moved on.”

Amber had most definitely not moved on, but TJ didn’t think he was supposed to tell Andi that.

“And maybe she hasn’t.”

She looked at him. “Has she? You must know, right?”

“Amber and I don’t really talk about that stuff,” TJ said, which wasn’t really a lie. “But even if we did, it’s not my place to say.”

Andi shook her head. “You’re right. Of course. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled at her. “For what it’s worth, I think you should go for it.”

“You do?” she asked, looking vulnerable.

“Yeah. I think you’d be great together.”

Her smile was wobbly. “But if we do…” She struggled to continue, and she searched his face as if there was something he should understand even without her saying it out loud. “If I go for it, and she says yes… where does that leave us?” She drummed her fingers against her leg. “We’ll be dating.”

And then, TJ did understand. He understood the fear of putting yourself out there, even when you were pretty sure the other person reciprocated your feelings. He understood the fear that came when crossing that line with a close friend, the risk that it would change everything, that the relationship would suffer instead of grow. And more than anything, he understood the fear of putting yourself out there, of taking that extra step, with a guy – or in Andi’s case, a girl.

“Oh,” was all he managed, and Andi’s lower lip trembled.

“I really like her, and I want to do this. But I’m scared.”

“I get that.” TJ stood up and reached for her hand, squeezing it once. “And you’re perfectly valid for feeling that way. You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. You don’t. But you have to know, I’ve got your back. Whatever you decide.”

Andi nodded, her eyes a little red, and pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks,” she said. He squeezed her tighter. “I’m going to miss you next year,” she added, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

He smiled slightly. Funnily enough, he wasn’t worried about that at all. He and Andi were friends, and he was sure going to different schools wouldn’t change that. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll still see each other all the time.” He smirked. “Especially if you start dating my sister.”

“Shut up,” she blushed, pulling back.

For the following week, nothing happened. TJ watched as nothing changed, fully aware that both girls were into each other and completely unable to do anything about it. And then, one afternoon as he was playing video games in the living room, the hurricane he liked to call his sister stormed in.

“TJ-TJ-TJ-TJ!!!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Hey.”

She was panting, her cheeks flushed as if she had run all the way here, a grin splitting her face in half.

“Andi asked me out.”

TJ stood up. “She _did_? What did you say?”

“Yes, obviously. We’re going on a date tomorrow afternoon.”

“ _Finally_.”

Amber was so happy she didn’t even bother shoving him, instead bouncing slightly on her tiptoes, unable to wipe her giddy smile off her face. She looked so happy, happier than he had seen her in ages, that TJ found himself smiling fondly back, extending an arm out. It said a lot about Amber’s elated state that she didn’t even pause before falling into his arms and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

“I’m happy for you,” he said.

“I’m very happy for me too,” she answered giddily, and he laughed.

She pulled away after a moment, still grinning but looking a little softer, somehow. Calmer.

“Hey, thanks,” she mumbled, nudging him. “For looking out for me, and supporting me this whole time. I know I didn’t always make it easy.”

"Nah, it's no problem," he shrugged. "You've supported me through worse."

"That's for sure."

He gave her shoulder a light punch. "Rude. Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date with Andi?"

She shrugged, still smiling brightly. "Eh, it's tomorrow. I've got time." She held his gaze for a full two seconds before giggling giddily. "Who am I kidding, I'm gonna go pick out an outfit. Catch you later!"

He laughed as she practically sprinted out of the room, letting himself back fall back against the couch and reaching for the remote. He was about to press play when Amber poked her head into the room again.

"Hey, seriously," she said. "Thanks."

He smiled. "You're welcome. Now go pick out an outfit for your freaking date."

She grinned and left, humming a peppy song as she did. TJ shook his head in amusement, starting up his game again.

He'd take over-the-top happy Amber over sad Amber any day. And by the looks of it, this Amber was here to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!  
> Title from Alec Benjamin's "If We Have Each Other"


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